Organovo Collaborates With Yale University to Develop 3D Printed Organs

Organovo and the Department of Surgery of Yale’s School of Medicine have collaborated to develop bioprinted tissues for surgical transplantation research, made possible by a generous gift from the Methuselah Foundation.

The 3D bioprinting company has just recently announced the full commercial release of the exVive3D Human Liver Tissue for preclinical drug discovery testing. Under Methuselah’s University 3D Bioprinter Program, Methuselah is donating at least $500,000 in direct funding to be divided among several institutions for Organovo bioprinter research projects. This funding will cover budgeted bioprinter costs, as well as other aspects of project execution.

At any given time, the waiting lists for critical organ transplants are three to five times as long as the list of available organs. In addition, other transplantable tissues, such as blood vessels, lung, and bone, are also in high demand with few sources.

“Developing organs for surgical implantation will take meaningful efforts and focused partnerships. This collaboration with Yale, which combines their expertise and technology with our own, is one important step in progressing towards implantable, therapeutic tissues,” said Keith Murphy, chairman and CEO of Organovo. “We are grateful to the Methuselah Foundation for their generous gift that gives those working towards significant breakthroughs in organ bioprinting an opportunity to use the NovoGen bioprinter and enable greater access to Organovo’s powerful platform.”

“We are excited to begin this collaboration with Organovo and are honored to be part of Methuselah’s University 3D Bioprinter Program, which gives our key researchers access to cutting-edge 3D bioprinting technology,” said Dr. John Geibel, Vice Chairman, Director of Surgical Research, and Professor of Surgery and Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale University. “This collaboration is a great way to bring the best minds of both worlds to solve a major research and medical goal – using bioprinting to produce transplantable tissues.”